Keeping up with the Weedashians…

If I kept a diary, no doubt I would scribe the same words of panic each spring, “Everything is growing so fast; I can’t keep up with it.” Ah but then, when my brain kicks in, I remember the verdant explosion of spring is merely a sprint lasting a month or two. Eventually, the brambles will bloom and set berries, the tall grass will mellow into a flaxen hue, and the weeds will settle down (though still mocking me with their prominent seed-heads and creative ways of dispersement.)

Wall of brambles: I fight this onslaught weekly. When the neighbor’s horses moved, the blackberries took their place.

When I do my little morning walkabout, the voice inside my head joins me like an impatient foreman tied to a time clock, “Oh and don’t forget to prune back the holly on the drive, oh, and did you see all the algae in the fountain? And don’t let that Scotch broom on the fence line get out of hand?” Sometimes my out-loud voice tells my inside voice to “Just shut up!” Although, this approach is not recommended; passersby are quick to judge such curious outbursts. (“Well, Tom does live alone, after all.”)

Man the pruners! The secret passageway through my privet hedge is being swallowed up.

I do eventually calm down, and while still employing my out-loud voice say, “I am but one man on four acres.” Somehow this makes me feel better. Boz and Gracie do not judge and only ask for a few mowed areas to shade or sun themselves, as the case my be.

Front door weedfest: What isn’t invasive?

Bright colors draw the eye away from the weeds underfoot.

Taming the wild beast: the kiwi vines now have a place to twine.

Two months from now in mid-July, we begin our dry season when pretty much all rampant growth stops. The grass turns brown like a sisal rug, the orchard begs for water, and tilled fields are dry as a sandbox. So I best shut my pie-hole, and enjoy this festival of green while it lasts or at least until the blackberry vines eat me.

9 Comments

SueMay 16, 2014 @ 10:54 am

I always drive myself crazy wondering how I’m going to get everything done, but somehow it always works out. And your so right–enjoy the green now. We dry out by end of June. It’s so brown and ugly. Easy….but ugly.
Have a great weekend

My yard is completely hopeless every year. What I lack in weed control, I totally make up in muttering neighbors, though. I will say my cardboard+wood chips strategy is working GREAT, though. Oh well, soon it’ll be summer and it all die back again.

I have a friend in Oregon who had a severe bramble problem. But then a brilliant solution happened as a by-product of his deciding to let his goats out to roam on their own. Presto! No brambles in the area around the house. All you have to do is figure out how to keep the goats enclosed and you can sit back and enjoy the sound of munching. They even eat the thorns!

I have a friend in Oregon who was being overtaken by blackberry bushes. Then he decided to let his goats out. Presto! No blackberries. The goats munch up the thorns and all! So consider figuring out how to tether a goat or two in your overgrown places and you and the dogs could enjoy their company while the weeds get turned into fertilizer!

Big Tom and Buddy Welcome!

Tom Conway here – A man, a dog, a farmhouse on five acres, countless projects and a hankering to grow and cook good food on Vashon Island. Join me, and my bulldog Buddy, as I share what I know, what I love, and what I’m learning along the way!